A Witch's Carol
by Lexi'sSpinOffs
Summary: All Charmed Fans know that the Charmed Ones became self-centred from S6 onwards, but what could make them change their ways? Read this to find out Piper's reasons. Phoebe's and Paige's will come soon.
1. Chapter 1

**A Witch's Carol**

Summery: Most Charmed fans are in agreement that the Charmed Ones became far too self-centred from S6 onwards. There are many different reasons why that could happen but what about what could change them to caring about innocents again?

This is a story in lieu of Christmas due to my lack of internet connection around that time and is the first in three of a similar storyline.

This is why Piper decided to change, to find out what made Phoebe and Paige change then look out for their stories; A Writer's Carol (Phoebe) and A Witchlighter's Carol (Paige). They will be coming soon.

All of this is a set up to the rewrite of my two spinoffs, which I'm going to be joining together.

Chapter One

It was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

Except for two small children, sat up eagerly waiting for Santa Claus to come and visit their house so that they could get presents and their parents who were tiredly sitting in the living room waiting for the aforementioned children to finally fall asleep.

Piper Halliwell looked up at the old, antique grandfather clock that still stood in the living room proudly, even though it had suffered damage on multiple occasions due to the numerous demons that had attacked over the years. It was almost eleven at night and her two sons were still up and about. She could hear them every now and again walking across the landing to each other's rooms to see if Santa Claus had been.

_Creak!_

There is was again. She sighed and counted to five. It was then that she heard her husband's voice speaking to Chris, their younger son. He was three-years-old now yet it only seemed like yesterday that he was her Peanut, a small baby that she had to protect from all the magical and human evils in the world.

"If you don't go to bed then Santa won't come."

"But how will I know if he leaves me what I want?" Chris asked in a whisper, mimicking his dad.

"You'll have to wait and find out. You wrote your letter to Santa, didn't you?" Piper never heard the answer but she knew it was a yes. That was something they did every year. Piper placed a small mailbox in the kitchen that read 'Santa's Mail' on the top. The boys and their cousins would put their letters to Santa into that and then she, Phoebe and Paige could all read them to find out exactly what their children wanted that year. This year, Chris wanted a baby sister – one just like his and Wyatt's friend, Ryan's baby sister, Jennifer – but that was one gift herself and Leo hadn't managed to fulfil yet. Maybe one day, "Santa tries to get you everything, you know that. He only missed out one thing last year, remember. Now go to bed, otherwise you won't be getting anything."

Piper stayed sat on the couch while she heard her husband placing Chris back to bed and then made his way back down the stairs. Leo Wyatt walked into the living room, his hair begin to show the aging signs of grey. He sat on the couch next to Piper and then put his arm around her so she could snuggle into his chest.

"Wyatt's asleep, I can't see Chris being too far behind now."

"Good," Piper sighed, "I thought I was going to have to put all his presents away." Piper and Leo looked at the two large piles of presents that sat around their large Christmas tree.

"I thought you wanted a normal life."

"I do."

"Well, this is it, Piper," Leo smiled at her, "Two children excited that Santa Claus is coming to visit."

Piper simply rolled her eyes at her husband's comment and made herself comfortable. Leo placed the television on at a low volume. They had to stay down here for another hour or so until they were certain the boys were asleep.

It wasn't long until Piper felt herself drift off into a peaceful sleep. Peaceful until a loud banging woke her up suddenly. She sat up with a shock and looked over to Leo. He was also asleep, snoring a little. She looked back to the television, that was still on with a low volume. Next she looked over to the grandfather clock, she had been asleep for twenty minutes. It felt like much longer.

Pulling her out of her thoughts, there was a loud banging again. Piper quickly jumped up from the couch and ran to the front door. The last thing she needed was some late night visitor waking her four-year-old sleeping son. She had to wonder whether Chris was asleep too yet.

Opening the door, she frowned when she realised that nobody was there. Piper peered out of the door and looked towards her neighbours' doors, there was nobody at those either. With a sigh, she closed the door and made her way back to the living room but a glow coming from the kitchen caught her attention. She was sure she had turned the kitchen lights out.

Piper walked to her favourite room of the house and pushed open the swinging door. There she saw somebody she had not seen in six years.

"Prue!" Piper gazed, wide-eyed at her older sister. Prue stood tall in the kitchen, her raven hair hung past her shoulders and her white dressed flowed to the ground. She looked beautiful and just as she remember her six years ago. Piper began to make her way to her sister, but stopped as Prue put her hands up with her palms facing Piper.

"I'm not here to say hello, Piper," Prue said with a disappointed look on her face, "I'm here to warn you."

"Warn me?"

"There will be three ghosts tonight," Prue explained, "They will show you everything you need to see to help you change your ways."

"Change my ways? I don't need to change my ways."

"You do, Piper, and this is the only way I can convince you," Prue disagreed, disappointment could be heard in her voice, "At midnight, three ghosts will come and visit you. You must learn from what they have to show you otherwise you can never change and you will live a lonely life."

"Prue, I have two sons, I will not be lonely."

That was all that Piper had to say for Prue to shake her head, still disappointed in her sister. Without another word, Prue disappeared from Piper's sight. Piper frowned. Had that really happened? Had her deceased sister visited her? Had Prue warned her of three ghosts? Piper decided that she had to be going crazy, she had not had a visit from any of her family members in the afterlife since the Ultimate Battle ended, this was just something that her subconscious wanted.

Deciding that, Piper made her way back into the living room. Both of her sons had to be sleeping now, she could wake her husband up and go to bed to wait for Christmas morning.

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

So I only got one review, but I'd like to say thank you anyway. Thank you for taking the time to review this story. More reviews do mean a quicker upload of chapters since then I know people are interested.

Enjoy chapter two...

**A Witch's Carol**

Chapter 2

Piper could not get to sleep, she was no longer tired and the visit from her deceased sister had worried her. She was still unsure whether she had seen Prue or not. She began to wish it was a decent time in the day so that she could ring her younger sister, Phoebe, to explain what had happened, just to see what she thought about it. However it was just before midnight, she knew Phoebe and her husband Coop would now be asleep.

Piper watched the red LCD figures of her clock tick to read 00:00. Midnight.

_At midnight, three ghosts will come and visit you._

Piper heard Prue's voice in her head as she remembered those words. Three ghosts…Piper looked around the room, there was nothing in here. It had definitely been her subconscious.

Piper closed her eyes again until she felt something hit her face. Just as she was about to open her eyes again, she felt a sneeze building up. She sneezed hard, she felt like something was irritating her nose. When she opened her eyes she saw some white and silver sparkly dust on the bed sheet in front of her. She frowned as more floated downwards past her eyes and onto the bed.

Piper looked up and raised her eyebrows at a fairy that floated in front of her.

"Piper Halliwell?" the fairy asked her, floating down to the bed and making herself comfortable on Piper's hands so she no longer had to flap her wings.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past."

"Ghost? You're a fairy!" Piper told the small figure in front of her.

"I was a fairy, until I stopped existing because you wouldn't help me," the fairy explained and then watched Piper's expression turn to one of confusion, "You'll find out soon."

In a flash, Piper found herself no longer in her bedroom. However she was still in the Halliwell Manor.

Piper was standing in the foyer of the Manor, looking into the living room. Sat around the living room, she could see her family – her mom and dad, both of her sisters and herself. However, they were in the past. Prue couldn't have been any older than five or six, making her about Chris' age and Phoebe just a baby. It was Christmas morning and Prue was prancing around in a present that she had just opened. Piper couldn't help but smile at her older sister who had decided to take it upon herself to now help their baby sister open up a present.

"Prue, let Phoebe at least try and open it herself!" Patty's voice exclaimed. Piper remember this morning. This was her favourite Christmas. It was her last one with her father here. The next year, Victor was 'away on business'. Piper now knew that Patty's affair with her Whitelighter, Sam Wilder, actually had something to do with that but she tried to pretend that that wasn't true.

Piper continued to watch the scene with a smile. Her smile turned to a grin when she saw herself unwrap a Barbie doll and try to rip it out of the box. Victor was there to help her open the box and pull out the doll for her, so she could play with the doll properly.

"Prue! It's just like yours!" the young Piper exclaimed with a big grin and then looked to each parent, "Thank you! It's just what I wanted!"

"Now we can be dolly sisters too, Piper!" Prue exclaimed towards her sister as the hugged tightly.

"This is my favourite Christmas," Piper told the fairy that floated beside her, "I;ve always wanted a Christmas just like this for my boys."

"Let's move onto the next thing I need to show you. I don't have too much time." The fairy simply said as the scene around them changed. Piper watched as she found herself outside in the snow. She was in her school primary school playground. She frowned for a minute and then she realised what she was looking at. Over on one of the benches, she could see herself sitting alone. She was wrapped up warm from the cold. It was then that Piper realised that she did not feel the temperature that she and the fairy were obviously standing in. She looked to the fairy, that had now taking rest on her shoulder.

"What's this?"

"You always felt left out at school, especially this year."

"This was the year Prue had moved to middle school. I wanted to join her, she was my only friend in school."

"But this winter everything changed."

Piper simply watched as a small boy, around about her age, made her way over to her and sat down on the bench next to her.

"I'm Peter, I'm new here."

"I'm Piper."

"Are you new too?"

"No."

"So why aren't you playing those?"

Piper could not help but look over at who the boy from her past was pointing towards. The young Piper took a deep sigh and looked to the floor.

"They don't like me, they think I'm weird because I have a weird name."

"I don't think you have a weird name. I think its really pretty."

The young Piper looked up to Peter and smiled softly; "I like your name too."

Piper simply watched, wishing she could go back to this time, when everything seemed to be so easy. The hardest thing about life was just trying to find one friend to make everything so much easier. Peter had done that, he had made primary school easier for her and then when it came to middle school, they remained friends. But then high school came and Peter had to move away during Freshman year. Piper was upset, but luckily because of Peter she had made other friends. High school was torture for her, but she had other friends to help her through it.

The scene around the, changed yet again, this time bringing them back to the Manor. The attic to be specific. A circle of flames burned in the middle of the floor, making Piper shield her eyes from the brightness. In the middle of the flames she could see herself and her two sisters standing, holding hands and chanting. It was Prue that stood in the middle and Piper knew when this was from. This was the first demon the three sisters had ever faced, just a couple of days or so from when Phoebe had read the incantation and they became Charmed.

Piper sighed; "I often wish this had never happened. This ruined my normal life."

"But you saved so many innocents, does that not mean anything?" the fairy asked her.

"Sometimes, it doesn't weigh up what we've lost."

"You mean like this?" As the fairy spoke, the scene change to remind Piper of all the people that she had lost due to magic. Her mother's death was the first and then Andy Trudeau. Her sister, Prue's death was next. Piper could not watched as Prue's body flew through the wall into the sun room. She heard the crash and then opened her eyes, just in time to see her own body fly through the wall to almost meet her sister's doom. The doctor that stood in the room was the next one flying through the air, into the window at the far end of the dining room. Piper then saw the numerous deaths of herself and her younger sisters, Phoebe and Paige. She watched the death of her son that came from the future to save his family and then saw her husband, laying in a hospital bed. It was the moment that she had to quickly make the compromise with the Angel of Destiny to put him on ice while she and her sisters fought against Billie and Christy. Finally, the fairy showed what almost was, when she cradled Phoebe's lifeless body in her arms, the Manor in pieces around her, car alarms going off around her. She remembered this clear as day, this was when she knew that after the Ultimate Battle, she was done fighting. Her family meant too much to her. No, saving innocents was not enough when she had to go through this pain.

"So, that was why you let me die," the fairy sighed, "Your family is everything."

"I can't lose anymore of my family," Piper shook her head, "These past few years have been perfect. They've been normal."

Everything around Piper span again, the scenery changed to back to the dark night, in her bedroom. The sound of her husband's light snores filled the room. The fairy was gone. Piper sighed and was about to climb back into her bed but was stopped by the sound of a woman's voice.

"I wouldn't bother if I were you."

Piper turned her attention towards the door to her bedroom. There she stood, the Whitelighter that was the pain in her ass. The one Whitelighter that could have put a stop to her and Leo ever being able to marry. Nathalie.

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

**A Witch's Carol**

Chapter 3

Piper looked towards where the voice had come from. The Whitelighter she had grown to like in the end, even though at first she hated her. She hated her and Leo's bond, the way that she came down on Leo for wanting to be with Piper.

"Nathalie?" Piper questioned with a frown, "What are you doing here? How are you here? Eames, he…"

"I know, Piper," Nathalie held her hands up to slow Piper down, "Yes, Eames did kill me. However, I am here as a guide for you."

"A guide?"

"Of sorts, yes. I am your ghost of Christmas Present."

Piper simply stared at the woman before her, she heard her sister's voice in her head once more telling her about the three ghosts.

"You're going to show me what this Christmas is going to be like? I can tell you that one…" Piper started and began to think about how both of her younger sisters would come to visit with their husbands.

"Not this one, Piper," Nathalie sighed, shaking her head, "At least, not just this one and not just the Christmas that you will have."

With no chance to say another word, Piper felt herself being pulled away from her bedroom. This felt much different to the way that the fairy had transported her and it was definitely not orbing. This felt worse than orbing, this made her stomach turn lots. Once the feeling had finally gone away, Piper had a chance to take a look at where she was now standing. Straight away she realised…

"Do we really have to go to your sister's this morning?" She heard the voice of her brother-in-law as he walked through the living room of the home he shared with Piper's sister, Phoebe, "I mean, whenever you're with her now, the two of you just end up fighting!"

"We have to Coop, I would like to see my nephews and I never really get to apart from their birthdays and Christmas!" Phoebe sighed, as she settled herself in the couch with a steaming mug of tea. Coop made himself comfortable next to her, "Once we have our own children, then we can miss out on Piper's Christmas dinners. I promise."

Piper felt shocked as she heard what her sister and brother-in-law were talking about. She had realised that every Christmas they seemed to argue, that seemed to happen a lot since the Ultimate Battle, but she always put it down to the usual Christmas thing. All families argue at Christmas, it was just natural.

"I don't understand." Piper frowned, looking towards Nathalie.

"You will. Just watch."

Before Piper knew it, once again, the room changed on her and she was transported to somewhere completely different. But, somewhere that she still knew. Her other sister's home, Paige.

"I haven't seen Paige in so long." Piper sighed. It was true, even at Christmas, Paige always seemed to have something happening. Last Christmas, her and Henry had decided to take a second honeymoon since she admitted to him that she had orbed back to try and help with demons on their first one.

"What are we going to tell her this year then?" Henry asked as Paige curled up on the couch next to him, a steaming cup of liquid in her hands. Paige pulled a face of uncertainty.

"What do we have this year?" Paige asked her husband, "Last year it was a second honeymoon. The year before you were looking at changing offices to Boston. What could we be doing this year?"

"Well, maybe this year we should go and see them all. You've hardly seen Wyatt and Chris and I know you regret having them grow up without really knowing you."

"But, I want Christmas to be just us."

"Christmas is for family, Paige."

Piper could not believe what she was hearing. She had never expected to hear her own sisters – both of them – to be finding excuses or reasons to not come over to Christmas dinner. This was a tradition that had happened for years. What had her family become? She never thought she would have one where her family did not want to see her. Piper frowned and looked at Nathalie.

"You're playing a trick on me, aren't you?"

"I wish I were, Piper. You and your sisters have all turned into to selfish people. You only think of yourselves," Piper glared towards Nathalie, anger in her eyes, "Don't think about denying it, Piper. Apart from when it has benefited you, what have you done for other people?"

"My boys…"

"You pass as much as you can onto Leo. You take your own husband for granted," the anger in Piper's eyes dimmed a little as she realised that Nathalie was telling her the truth, "Now, let's take magic…"

"Don't talk to me about magic. Since magic, my normal life was turned into a rollercoaster. Magic killed my mother and my sister, I lost a number of people from my life all because of magic."

"Yet you also gained a number of people. If it wasn't for magic, you would never have found Paige."

"By the sounds of it, that doesn't matter. Paige doesn't want to see me."

"That's is because of both of you. You all think that because of a lack of demons and a shortened need of the Charmed Ones, the three of you no longer need to be as close as you once were. You've grown apart. You just need to remember other reasons as to why you were close. Was it really just because of being witches? The way I see it you were sisters who just happened to be witches, not witches who just happened to be sisters."

Piper looked towards Nathalie, thinking seriously about what she had said.

"You can change what they're talking about at the moment, maybe not in one day, but if you change your attitude then you can change what will come."

"So, is it just Paige that magic brought me?"

"No, what about Leo?" Nathalie asked Piper, folding her arms with a smug smile on her face, "If you had never become a witch, he would never have become your Whitelighter and you would have never met him. You would never have had the two beautiful boys you have now."

The scenery around Piper changed once more, back to her own home. She stood in her own living room and watched as the typical Christmas morning happened before her eyes. She and Leo sat comfortable on the floor by the tree that sat beautifully decorated with baubles and tinsel. Wyatt sat by Leo, while Chris sat on Piper's knees, meaning that Leo had to dish out the presents. The two boys opened their presents quickly and excitedly. However, something was missing. Piper watched herself and saw that there was hardly any joy in her own eyes. She could see tiredness, which was expected since she knew her boys would wake her and a time in the morning that just shouldn't exist, but there was also what looked like resent. Did she resent her boys? Piper could not believe it now as she watched it. What had she started to become? Was she really that selfish?

"You do love those boys, but they need to know too," Nathalie explained to Piper, who continued to watch the scene before her, she continued to watch herself fake happy smiles as Chris and Wyatt showed her their presents, "They'll grow up resenting you eventually if they don't see that you love them. Wyatt may have caused the odd magical problem here and there, but magical boys will be magical boys. They need to keep practising their magic. At some point, the truce with the demons will come to an end and they'll have to learn to protect themselves."

Piper looked to Nathalie in shock, hearing what she had to say.

"You're being selfish not allowing them to play with their powers. If they're doing no harm and not committing any personal gain then they can play to practise. The Elders will allow that, they are young after all. You and Leo are the best parents they could have, now you have to live up to that."

Piper had tears in her eyes as she nodded her head, understanding exactly what Nathalie was telling her. Just the other day, Wyatt had orbed a sippy cup of milk to Chris. Piper had, of course, scolded him for using his magic – not for personal gain, just for using magic – but now she realised that they were just using their powers to practise. They did need that.

"You family isn't the only thing you've gained with magic. Now this one isn't completely because of magic…" Nathalie stopped talking while the scenery changed around them to that of Piper's club, P3, "…But if it wasn't for magic, P3 wouldn't have become the hit it has as quickly as it did."

"What do you mean?" Piper questioned Nathalie, a little offended that she thought Piper would never have pulled off the success.

"If it wasn't for Leo making Dishwalla's manager to agree to them playing here, all because of that demon, P3 would not have taken off so quickly. You have to agree with me, Piper," Piper hated to admit it but Nathalie was right. It had been because of that night, when the band's manager had been making a deal with a demon to get his band so well known, that people had come to the club to see Dishwalla play, "P3 is fairing well, but what happened to that restaurant you wanted to open?"

"I don't have the time, with the boys to raise and this place to run. I can't run two places and I can't close P3, there is no way that Phoebe would allow me to do that and she does own half of this place, since Prue left her third to the two of us in her will."

"What about Leo helping you?"

"I thought you told me I was being selfish?" Piper folded her arms across her chest and looked at Nathalie with a questioning glance.

"This would benefit Leo too, Piper. Since losing his wings, Leo has had nothing to do. He has no life here, and you know that. And with no Magic School open, he can't even help teach there – although I do have to question what good a mortal man can do in a place full of magical children. Then again, this is Leo and I know how much he loved helping people, even now," Nathalie realised that she had gone off on a tangent and stopped herself. She shook her head and apologised to Piper, "I sometimes go into my thoughts. What I'm trying to say is that Leo needs something to do. He can't go out and get a normal job, all of his documents say that he is the Leo Wyatt that was born in 1924. They would never understand that."

"I changed his birth certificate."

"He would need experience in working somewhere. You could give him that experience in managing P3 while you open your restaurant. Maybe you should think about that, Piper. It's not being selfish to do something that you have always wanted to do, as long as you do it right. Now, I'll take you home so you can think everything through."

Piper did not have a chance to say a word, instead she found herself back in her bedroom and back in her bed. It was as if she had just woken up from a dream, as if nothing had really happened but in the back of her mind she knew that what she had seen and what she had been told was not a dream. This had all happened because of magic and it had happened for a reason – a good reason. She thought for a minute about the fact that Phoebe and Paige no longer wanted to see her on Christmas Day, but she could not be angry at them, instead she understood what Nathalie had said. They had hall been selfish over the years, she knew at least the last five years she had really only thought about herself so her sisters were no different.

Before she could think of anything more, the doorbell rang. Checking the clock, she realised that it was only 2am. Who could be at the door at this time?

Pulling herself from the bed, she put on her dressing gown and made her way down the stairs and to the front door. When she opened it, there was nobody there. Closing the door with a sigh, she turned back to go to bed but stopped when she saw a familiar male figure standing at the foot of the stairs, his hands casually in the pockets of his black suit. The suit that he had been buried in.

"Andy!"


	4. Chapter 4

A Witch's Carol

Chapter 4

"Hello Piper." Andy Trudeau smiled towards Piper as if he had not died 10 years ago.

"Andy! How…what…?" Piper stuttered but could not get the words out.

"I'm your Ghost of Christmas Future," Andy held his hands up to stop Piper from trying to talk, "Prue convinced the Elders to send me. I guess she figured I'd be able to get through to you."

"You don't need to, I get it. I've been selfish. I need to change."

"I don't think you do yet," Andy shook his head, "You see, you want to change because you don't want this Christmas to turn out how you've just seen it. You want to change it for selfish reasons, its not because you want it to change for everyone else."

"Of course I do!" Piper exclaimed at Andy, shocked at what he was telling her.

"Piper, I know you better than you think I do. I have been watching over you."

Hearing that, Piper's curiosity peaked; "Watching me?"

"Well, more like your boys. I shouldn't be letting you know this, and you definitely can't tell them, but I'm their Whitelighter. I will be to a few of Paige's and Phoebe's children too once their born, but for now its just Wyatt and Chris."

"You became a Whitelighter!"

"That was why Prue could never summon me from the afterlife. I wasn't there," Andy grinned a boyish grin as he held out his hand, "Anyway, I have to show you what the future holds for you. Take my hand."

"Are we orbing?"

"No, I've been given a special way of teleporting you for the time-travel. Just take my hand."

Nervously, Piper took Andy's hand and then felt herself being transported through time. It felt a little similar to the way Nathalie had transported her but much safer. She was with someone she could trust.

Before she knew it, Piper found herself in a dark alleyway, the sound of a busy road at one end of the alleyway and the sound of shouting and screaming at the other. Andy pulled her towards the shouting, and that was when she saw her two sons all grown up and fighting demons together. That sight worried and upset her, the demon truce was not going to last for too long. Eventually, her two boys would have to fight demons. Nathalie was definitely right, both would need to practise their powers.

"Chris, watch out!" Wyatt shouted out towards his brother, who was on the opposite side of the alleyway to him. Wyatt quickly orbed out and then back in, in front of Chris, as a fireball flew through the air towards him. Piper could only watch as the fireball hit Wyatt's chest, causing him to fly backwards through the air, taking Chris down with him. The two hit a wall hard.

The demon that had thrown the fireball simply laughed at the two brothers and made his way over to the innocent that he had been after in the first place.

Chris pushed his brother from him, rolling him over so he could examine the wound.

"Wyatt!" Chris shook his brother but there was no point, even now Piper realised that Wyatt's eyes were wide open and lifeless, "Wyatt!"

"No!" Piper covered her mouth with her hands, tears falling down her cheeks as she realised her older son had been killed, "Call for help Chris!"

"There's no point," Andy shook his head. Piper was about to question him but he stopped her, "Just watch."

Chris could simply watch as the demon killed his innocent and then grabbed Wyatt's shoulders and orbed the two of them out. Piper felt herself being teleported, as if she was connected to Chris' orbing. She soon realised that Andy had obviously transported them both at the same time to where Chris was orbing Wyatt.

He brought him to an apartment, it was bare, as if they had just barely enough money to live.

"Aunt Paige!" Chris called out, up towards the ceiling, constantly checking on Wyatt. Tears were falling down his cheeks, "Aunt Paige, please, just this once answer me. Wyatt needs help! Hen! Holly! Someone!" Nobody showed up to Chris' calls. Chris crumbled into sobs as he tried in vain to stop the blood from spilling from the burn wound on Wyatt's chest, "Why did you orb in front of me? At least you can heal! I can't do anything and our family don't listen to our calls, you know that!"

"What do you mean?" Piper looked to Andy, shocked at what she had just heard.

"The truce ended," Andy shrugged his shoulders, "You, Phoebe and Paige wanted nothing to do with demons though, you all had your own lives. In fact, the three of you never talk anymore. Paige and Henry live in Phoenix now, Paige got a job as a Social Worker there. She always blamed you and Phoebe for making her give that up. They have three children of their own though. Henry Jnr, and their twins, Holly and Hope. Phoebe and Coop are off around the world all the time, their columns are known worldwide now. They have three girls now, but all three are in boarding school, their powers bound. They have no knowledge of the magical world, Phoebe didn't want that for her girls, she wanted them to have a life," Piper simply looked to Andy in shock, she could not believe her ears, "I can show you if you don't believe me."

"No," Piper shook her head, "What about Leo and myself?"

"You wanted nothing to do with magic either. They did and you cast them out. No help with money, no help with any demons. You spend more time looking after the daughter you and Leo eventually have."

"I have a daughter?"

"In all of that, you pick out the fact that you have a daughter?" Andy shook his head with a scoff, "Prue was right, this will be hard." Without another word, Andy grabbed Piper's hand roughly and transported her from the dank apartment back to her own home.

The Manor was done up just how she had it now, except pictures had been removed and replaced. The ones of her and her sisters not longer hung on the walls, the ones of her two boys no longer stood on the mantelpiece. It was as if she had removed everyone from her life that she wanted nothing to do with.

"This is all your fault, Piper!" Leo's voice called out from the kitchen as Piper watched herself walking out and towards the living room. She looked older though, her hair was a grey colour, her eyes were dark with black rings underneath them. Leo soon followed, his hair a salt and pepper colour and just like her, his eyes had dark circles underneath them, "You wanted a normal life and look what's happened. Wyatt is dead!"

"How is this all my fault, Leo? I wasn't the only one who wanted a normal life."

"Yes you were!" Leo shouted back, "I tried to help the boys when I could but you wouldn't let me! You forbid me! They were doing a job that needed you and your sisters, they were fighting a demon that took the Charmed Ones to vanquish and if cost Wyatt his life. Your selfishness has lost us our child, I've lost a son because of you."

Piper could just watch has she heard the argument between the future Piper and Leo. She was shocked at what she was hearing. Part of her wanted to believe that she would never do that, but she knew how much she loved having no demons or magic in her life. There was a possibility.

"I'm leaving, Piper, I can't do this anymore."

"You can't leave, Leo!" the future Piper shouted back at her husband.

"I can, and I am doing," Leo shook his head, "The Elders offered me my wings back so that I could help other witches and potential Whitelighters, so that's what I'm doing. I can be there for Chris then, if he ever needs me, it better than sitting here not being able to do anything."

The scenery changed before Piper could see anymore, however it only changed slightly. Her and Andy remained in the Manor, yet she watched the dining room as her future self set Christmas dinner up.

"They come and see me at Christmas though."

"Keep watching." Andy sighed.

The phone rang and future Piper made her way to it, answering the call.

"Hello?" there was a pause while neither Piper or Andy could hear what was being said on the other end, "Oh, Pru! What are you doing calling, sweetie, I thought you'd be on your way over now," there was another pause, "You're not coming? Why not?" … "You're in New York? When did you go to New York?" … "Last week with Tyler. Oh, right," Piper heard the disappointment in her future self's voice and she could not blame her, by the sounds of things, her daughter had just decided to leave for Christmas with some boy named Tyler, "Well, come and see me when you get back. Bye."

Future Piper hung up the telephone and walked toward the table. She sat down at one of the two places set. This was the first time Piper realised that there were only two places set for the Christmas dinner.

"Merry Christmas to me again." Future Piper sighed, place her arm on the table and her head on her hand. Piper guessed this was not the way she wanted to spend Christmas.

"You selfishness rubbed off on your daughter," Andy explained to her, "She decided that she wanted to spend Christmas in New York with her current boyfriend."

"This isn't the first time it's happened, is it?" When Piper saw Andy shake his head, she sighed, she realised now that she was going to end up an extremely lonely and bitter old woman. Not the future that she saw just two years ago during the battle against Billie and Christy.

Piper felt herself being transported once again, this time to a graveyard. It took no guesses for Piper to realise why she was here. She looked at the headstone and sure enough it read her name.

"I've not even been buried in the family crypt." Andy simply looked at Piper and then looked towards the coffin that laid by the headstone. Piper took the hint and watched. A loan vicar stood at the foot of the coffin, conducting a normal ceremony that only three people had decided to attend. One was Leo, but he seemed to be there just for show. The others were a woman in her twenties with long brown hair and beautiful green eyes. In the woman's arms was a baby who couldn't be more than a few months old.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." The Vicar finished the ceremony and looked towards the three people who had turned up.

"Are we done?" the woman looked to the Vicar, who nodded his head. The woman sighed with relief and looked to Leo, "Great, I've got to go Dad. Ashley needs changing and I need to see Charlie. I guess I'll see you at the next death."

With that the woman walked away. The woman that Piper had now guessed was her daughter. Leo looked to the Vicar after watching the woman walk away. He had hardly changed from when Piper last saw him when he was arguing with her future self. He really had taken his wings back.

"Thank you for that. I guess no matter how angry I am at her, I still had to give her a proper burial. At least she can't haunt me now."

Piper turned to Andy in shock at the way that her life had ended. Her husband had left her and obviously still disliked her for the death of Wyatt, her daughter cared more about herself and the next boy that came into her life, Chris had not even bothered to show, that was if Chris was still alive and her sisters had just not bothered to show. They were probably living their own lives.

"I can't have this happen. I need to change this!"

"You can change this Piper," Andy explained to her, "I will be simply to change this, but it can only be you that does."

"Send me back, please. Then I can change it all!"

Andy nodded his head with a small smile and placed his hand on Piper's forehead. The next thing Piper knew, it was Christmas Morning and she was lying in her own bed, next to her mortal husband who was sleeping soundly. It was still dark outside but Piper knew that it would only take time for her two boys to run into the bedroom.

"Leo?" Piper looked at him, hoping that everything had come to an end, "Leo, wake up!" Piper shook her sleeping husband awake, "Leo!"

"I know its Christmas, Piper, but I was more expecting the boys to come in and jump on the bed." Leo moaned, sleepingly, not bothering to open his eyes.

"I want to go and wake them up!" Piper told her husband.

"What?" Leo now opened his eyes and looked at his wife as if she had fallen and bumped her head, "Piper, why do you want to wake them up. We've had less than five hours sleep. Today is going to be a long day!"

"I know, but its worth it. It's Christmas."

Now Leo was wide awake. He sat up and stared at Piper; "You never care that it's Christmas. What's going on, Piper?"

"I guess you could say I've had a bit of an awakening. Please, Leo, I need to do this. I need to start making changes."

Rather than arguing with his wife, Leo agreed and climbed out of bed. Silently he was happy that she seemed to care more about the boys' excitement about Christmas rather than her own need for sleep. This was how a mother was supposed to be.


	5. Chapter 5

A Witch's Carol

Chapter 5

"Merry Christmas!" Piper smiled as she hugged her sister tightly.

"Merry Christmas, Piper!" Phoebe grinned as she hugged her sister in the same manner. It wasn't what Piper was expecting herself, but she was happy about it.

"I'm so glad you could make it, Phoebe, I've made dinner with all the trimmings and the boys can't wait to see what Santa accidentally left at your house."

"Well, Coop and I have them all here," Phoebe grinned and stepped into the Manor, Coop followed her with a handful of presents, "Coop, why don't you take them to Wyatt and Chris, I need to talk to my sister."

Coop simply obliged while Phoebe pulled Piper back into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry!" The two sisters exclaimed together and then pulled back, "What are you sorry for?" Again, they spoke together.

"Well, I'm sorry for almost missing another Christmas from the best family I have in the world," Paige's voice said from the still open door, "Is there any space for two more people?"

Piper and Phoebe looked at the door to see Paige standing there, with Henry just behind her.

"Of course there's space, Paige," Piper said, pulling her youngest sister into a tight hug, "There's always space."

"Where's the boys?" Henry asked the three sister, uncomfortable at the scene. Just like Coop, he was holding lots of wrapped presents.

"In the living room probably opening what Coop and I bought them," Phoebe smiled, "Go and take that. I think the three of us need to talk."

"We definitely do." Paige nodded her head in agreement with her sister. Just like Coop, again, Henry obliged and made his way into the living room to find his nephews.

"I'm going to start first," Phoebe said while Paige shut the front door, "Were either of you two visited by anyone last night."

"You were too?" Paige questioned Phoebe with shock and then looked to Piper, "Piper?"

"Yeah, three ghosts that showed you things that you really didn't want to see?"

Suddenly, the three sisters realised that they were all shown what they needed to see to change their attitudes to everything in their lives. Neither went into any detail, there was no need to, they just knew that there were some people who wanted them to change before it was too late.

"I never realised how selfish I had become," Piper explained to her sisters, "And I never realised how much we'd grown apart."

"Neither had I, Piper," Phoebe shook her head, "But I don't want to lose either of you from my life. No matter what happens in my own life, I will always have time for the two of you."

"Same here," Paige agreed with Phoebe, "Magic isn't the only bond we have, we're sisters. We're family."

The three sisters hugged again.

Leo watched from the doorway to the kitchen, with a smile on his face and then slipped back in to turn back to the person that he was talking to.

"Thanks for organising this, Prue," Leo turned to his deceased sister-in-law, "I didn't know who else to turn to who would help them. I knew the Elders wouldn't do much."

"I needed to help them, Leo, they're my sisters," Prue smiled towards Leo, "Just let them believe that it was the Elders' doing. I know that's what Andy told Piper," Leo simply nodded his head, "Now, I've got to get back to the afterlife and you need to get back to your family. I'll come and visit Piper in a few months time to make sure she's still putting others before herself."

"Thanks again, Prue." And in the blink of an eye, Prue disappeared from Leo's sight. With a sigh, he smiled, thankful that somebody could help the Charmed Ones get back on track before it was too late.


	6. Chapter 6

A Witch's Trial

Chapter 6

Six months later, Piper was standing in the kitchen, washing up all the dishes that had been used that night. Phoebe and Paige had been over with their husbands, a weekly family meal that they had all promised to keep going without any excuses. Piper thought she would get annoyed of it after a while but whenever she seemed to, something reminded her of what she had seen during that Christmas Eve night. The three ghosts had showed her so much in order for her to change, so much that she could never ignore. She did not want her family to turn out how she had seen.

"Piper?" a voice called to her from behind. It sounded similar to one of her sisters and she expected that one had come back after leaving something here. Phoebe usually left her belongings, Piper often joked that she would forget her head if it were loose.

"What have you left now…Prue!" Piper exclaimed as she turned around to see her deceased older sister standing in the kitchen, just how she had been six months ago when she had come with the information of the three ghosts, "Please don't tell me I'm going to be visited by more ghosts!"

"No, Piper," Prue shook her head with a smile, "I wanted to come and tell you that I'm proud of you. I wasn't at first but now I am and I'm proud to call you my sister."

"What do you mean?"

"You'd become so selfish, Piper. You didn't care about the innocents anymore. Since my death, all you cared about was getting the evil that killed me and then having a normal life. But now you've changed. I've been watching the way you've been with the boys, how you've helped them control their powers and how you've also tried to keep this whole family close. I know there's no demons that attack you anymore, and there's never any innocents that need saving, but whenever there are, I know now that you'll do the right thing and help them," Piper tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, "Oh and if you don't, I'll just come back and do some more reminding how important innocents are, even if it does mean the death of someone close."

"You set the whole thing up!" Piper squeaked in a shocked tone towards her sister, who had a sly smile appearing on her lips.

"I know nothing of the sort."

"Of course you do! It wasn't The Elders, it was you! You sent the fairy, Nathalie and Andy to see me, didn't you?" Piper now realised the reason for the time travelling that Christmas Eve.

"Piper…"

"Ooo, if you weren't dead, I'd kill you now!" Piper said but then smiled and laughed, "Thank you though, I guess I needed a kick up the ass!"

"You definitely did." Prue agreed with a smile and then hugged her sister tightly.

"I miss you Prue."

"I miss you too, Piper, but I promise I will come back to see you now and again. You raise my nephews and niece right, ok?"

"Niece?" Piper questioned but Prue disappeared without an answer, just a knowing smile. Piper looked down to her stomach and placed her hands on it while Leo walked into the kitchen with a handful of bowls.

"That's everything from the…" Leo started but stopped in his tracks as she saw how Piper was standing, "Piper? Is everything ok?"

"Leo, Prue, she was here and…" Piper started but then decided she needed to tell him the most important news of all, "Leo, we're having a baby girl."

"What!" Leo smiled with great joy and placed the bowls on the counter. He swiftly made his way over to his wife and took her hands gently, "Are you serious?"

"Yes Leo, we're having a baby girl!"

The End


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